Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes

Christ-Centered Exposition

by Daniel L. Akin, Jonathan Akin, Tony Merida

Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, this new commentary series, projected to be 48 volumes, takes a Christ- centered approach to expositing each book of the Bible. Rather than a verse-by-verse approach, the authors have crafted chapters that explain and apply key passages in their assigned Bible books. Readers will learn to see Christ in all aspects of Scripture, and they will be encouraged by the devotional nature of each exposition. Projected contributors to the series include notable authors such as Russell D. Moore, Al Mohler, Matt Chandler, Francis Chan, Mark Dever, and others.  

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Biblical Studies

146 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2016

Reviews

[Eelinh · Rating 4 out of 5]

• Rounding up from 3.6 stars
• Good intro to Ecclesiastes

Negatives:
• A lot of pop culture references that were either too on the nose or felt forced to sound cool (I enjoy relevant pop culture references but felt like it was overkill).
• Too many quotes and references from other authors. I don't mind it generally but for a book this size, it was too many. The entire last chapter is pretty much a collection of direct quotes from theologians, pastors, and authors, which were great and made me want to read their works, but original good content would've made this a solid 4 stars.

[Nadiya Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have chosen the book of Ecclesiastes to read over and over in 2024 for growth in Bible literacy. This exposition has been impactful in giving resources, context, and perspective. Will read again to follow the resources “linked” in the making of this commentary.

[Justin Heck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great commentary on Ecclesiastes.

Very pastoral in tone. This could be used as a daily devotional for someone wanting to study Ecclesiastes. The authors do a great job at bringing out how it points to Christ!

[Hannah Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

More pop culture references than necessary, but overall this was a very helpful and worthwhile companion in studying Ecclesiastes.

[Will Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This brief commentary started off okay, but I just couldn't connect with it. A few things bothered me:

1. It is quote heavy. They are constantly quoting the works of others. It reminds me of Dwight Pentecost's awful Things to Come (which gained the nickname, Things to Quote). Some of their best material came from someone else. Whenever authors heavily quote others I am left wondering if they have anything original to say. That may not be fair, but it's the impression I had. And to top it off I cannot stand in-text references. Footnotes please.

2. Another thing that annoyed me a bit was the authors, from my perspective, trying too hard to sound cool. There were too many cultural references which will be outdated within a few short years. I am completely for using cultural references in sermons, etc. in order to bring Scripture to weigh upon culture, but in my opinion they over did it. I do believe the reference to Groundhog Day fit with Ecclesiastes well, but some of the other cultural references seemed forced.

3. They also condensed too much of Ecclesiastes. Chapters 7-11 are clumped together in a measly 14 pages. To be fair the book is under 150 pages.

4. Some of their structuring is weird. Why clump together chapters 7-11? What's the justification?

5. The last chapter, while containing some okay material, didn't seem to fit. I felt that the extended discussion on sermons and preaching didn't really fit with the text of Ecclesiastes. At the least, it seemed a bit forced. A bit too soap-boxy for me.

Overall, the commentary started out okay, but there are many other better commentaries out there: Eswine's Recovering Eden, O'Donnell's Ecclesiastes in the Reformed Expository Commentary and Ryken's Why Everything Matters.

[T.A. Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to Ecclesiastes, and I would highly recommend it for new students of Ecclesiastes (or for anyone looking for a broad overview). The author makes apt connections between the ancient world being written about and our modern experience, demonstrating convincingly that these two worlds have all of the same problems, and a common remedy. There are incredibly quotable lines about the contemporary maladies facing our culture (inside and outside of the church) that would be useful in sermons. The content is Christocentric and encouraging. This is an introduction - not a commentary, and it is brief. If you are looking for something line-by-line or exegetical you will need a different book.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in tandem with Douglas Sean O'Donnell's "Ecclesiastes" in the Reformed Expository Commentary series. I must say Akin's work is an excellent devotional resource, and (as others have said) very pastoral in tone. But for my purposes (a sermon series on Ecclesiastes), Akin was a just a tad lacking. It is a great companion book to other resources, but doesn't quite stand on it's own, (skimming over Ecclesiastes 10, quoting heavily from other sermons, etc). If I could only have 1 commentary on Ecclesiastes, I'd pick O'Donnell's. If I could have 2, I'd add Akin to the list without hesitation.

[Richard Inman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to put it down. The commentary starts from the assumption that the question the Teacher (the author of Ecc.) is exploring is if there is meaning in this post-fall world. The phrase translated "everything is meaningless" or "futile" is declaring that everything ends, not that there is no point, and Ecc. deals with how we should contend with our mortality. Moreover, Ecc. is largely a critique of it's contemporary wisdom that good happens to good people and evil befalls the wicked. Much like Job. But the commentary's narrative of "is there meaning? Yes, in Jesus" obscures what God is trying to communicate in Ecc.

[Rachel Andrews · Rating 2 out of 5]

I use the Exalting Christ books for most of my personal devotions. I have enjoyed all of the ones I’ve completed. That said, this book was a ginormous book of quotes. Quoted sermons, quoted books, CONSTANT quotes. Listen to me, just read the book “Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs” because he quotes it 970 times (slight exaggeration). I’m sure this guy is a good author, but if there is nothing to add to the conversation on Ecclesiastes, then why write the book? Just recommend one of the books you quoted 10,000 times and write about another book in the OT.

[Cameron Barham]

“Ecclesiastes is God’s goodness to us because He refuses to allow us to wallow in our broken futility. In His love He frustrates us (Dever, “The Ungodly”). Our frustration over the absurdity of life drives us to God and His gospel. That is the answer to brokenness and meaninglessness.”, p. 94

[Mary Wiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recommend this series enough.
Accessible, engaging, trustworthy commentary on each book of the Bible to continually points the reader to Christ.

[Pamela Kilzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay! I didn’t find anything super earth-shattering in it, but didn’t dislike it. I love this series, though, and look forward to reading others, maybe from different authors.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series published by B&H. This title is written by Daniel L. Akin and Jonathan Akin.

Ecclesiastes is an interesting read--especially in a text-only Bible. What are readers to make of it? No doubt it is relevant to our lives--and not just because it is in the Bible--but because we can relate to the feelings described by Solomon. For example, that every day is the same and there really isn't anything new under the sun. But as Christians, how are we to be influenced by the book of Ecclesiastes? Is it hopeful or depressing?

Here is the table of contents:
Everything is Meaningless without Jesus
The American Dream is Meaningless without Jesus
Time is Meaningless without Jesus
Politics and Justice are Meaningless without Jesus
Religion is Meaningless without Jesus
Money is Meaningless without Jesus
Wisdom in a Meaningless World
Death is Meaningless without Jesus
Aging is Meaningless without Jesus
The Preacher on Preaching

Each chapter focuses on a chunk of text. Each chapter gives a straightforward 'main idea' for interpreting or making sense of the text. This is followed by an outline. Each chapter ends with reflect and discuss questions. I love the organization of the series. This is how every book in the series is structured. Readers know exactly what to expect and how to use the book.

I love that the book focuses on EXALTING JESUS in the book of Ecclesiastes. I think Ecclesiastes without Christ would be a very different read. Solomon's "life is meaningless" message could easily be misinterpreted without Christ as teacher and guide. Early on in the book, the author writes: "Ecclesiastes wants to push us to faith and contentment in God." The author urges readers to consider the message of the book to be, "More will not satisfy us; only God can."

I love that the book is reader-friendly. I would never, ever, ever say the book is made more relevant by references to songs, movies, tv shows, etc. Ecclesiastes is relevant because it is an inspired book in the Word of God. It is relevant because it tells us something about God and it tells us something about ourselves. But I will say that the authors writing style resonated with me. And that I could relate to what the authors were saying. Which in my opinion makes it reader-friendly.

I love that the authors quote Alistair Begg a LOT. And not just Begg but other preachers I like as well. (Matt Chandler, Sinclair Ferguson, Tim Keller, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John MacArthur, J.I. Packer, Charles Spurgeon, etc.)

I like the length of the chapters. I like that the book is short and to the point. Again going back to reader-friendliness. A commentary does not have to be terribly lengthy and actually heavy to be worth reading.

I would definitely recommend this book in the series.

[Create With Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a looking for a commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes that is more scholarly in its approach than the average Bible study yet still accessible to the average reader, then Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes might just be what you're looking for!

This book is part of the new Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary Series from the B&H Publishing Group that is projected to be 48 volumes when completed!

Instead of structuring the book as a verse-by-verse commentary, the authors identify the main concept of each section at the beginning of the chapter – provide a mini-outline so you can easily follow the sections they are discussing – and then provide commentary that strikes the perfect balance between intellectual rigor and cultural reference.

This commentary is very readable and highly portable - a plus for pastors, Bible students, and bibliophiles with bulging bookshelves!

This review is an excerpt from the original review that is published on my blog. To read my review in its entirety, please visit Create With Joy.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own, based on my experience with this book.